Overview
- Boston has won 11 of 13 games, including a season-high six-game streak, and now sits 2.5 games back of the AL Wild Card with FanGraphs giving the team roughly a 30.7 percent chance of reaching the postseason.
- Pitching has powered the run: the Red Sox rank fourth in AL team ERA, Sonny Gray is 10-1 with a 2.61 ERA, and Ranger Suárez earned an All-Star nod for his strong work in the rotation.
- The offense has shown signs of life in July but remains one of MLB’s weakest units, ranking 29th in runs and 30th in home runs despite recent contributions from Willson Contreras and improved play from Caleb Durbin.
- With the Aug. 3 trade deadline approaching, coverage and analysts say sustained hot play could flip Boston from seller to buyer, and the three-game series at Citi Field starting Friday is being treated as a short-term test of that momentum.
- The turnaround alters how critics view earlier front-office moves by Chief Baseball Officer Craig Breslow, and it could change roster decisions, market interest in Red Sox pitchers and fan expectations for the rest of the season.